The present invention relates generally to the production of doors for a motor vehicle, and more particularly to a welded blank, from which a panel for a front door or rear door is produced.
Application of linear-welded blanks for the inner panel of front and rear doors for a motor vehicle results in undesirable distribution of material and inefficient material utilization. Consequently, unnecessary material is present on the J-plane of the door inner, which significantly increases the weight of the door.
Currently, tailor-welded blanks (TWB) for front and rear doors of the same vehicle do not share common characteristics and are sourced separately from TWB suppliers with no opportunity for the supplier to share investment costs of tooling between tailor-welded blanks of the front and rear doors of the same vehicle.
Current tailor-welded blanks for front and rear doors of the same vehicle type, i.e., small car, mid-size car, full-size car or truck, do not share common characteristics that can be used to provide for reuse of existing manufacturing lines.
A need exists in the industry for a multiple-piece, welded door panel blank that can be applied to both the front and rear door of automotive vehicles, including doors for differing vehicle architectures. Preferably the components of each blank would be welded along straight and curved lines, each of which is collinear with a corresponding weld line of another blank whether for a front or rear door, although the length of the weld lines can vary.